Tom Cruise denies Scientology auditioned girlfriends

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A lawyer for Tom Cruise has dismissed as "tired old lies" a magazine report claiming that the Church of Scientology had auditioned candidates to become a girlfriend for the star.

Vanity Fair quoted sources as saying the controversial church - of which Cruise is the most high-profile member - tested actresses as potential brides in 2004, after his divorce from fellow movie actor Nicole Kidman.

The report included details of a failed match with an Iranian-born actress, who was allegedly dismissed after failing to show enough public affection for the Hollywood A-lister and Mission: Impossible star.

But Cruise's lawyer Bert Fields dismissed the allegations. "Vanity Fair's story is essentially a rehash of tired old lies previously run in the supermarket tabloids, quoting the same bogus 'sources'," he said.